mentoring guidelines

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MENTORING GUIDELINES WHO IS JESUS? Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. As the second Person in the Godhead, He was eternal. He was begotten of the Father as the Son of God. Jesus came into this earth through the virgin Mary as the Son of God and Son of man. He is Creator of the universe and our Lord and Savior. He came to earth to destroy the works of Satan and redeem fallen man by His death and shed blood at the cross. (Jn. 1:1-14, 34, 51; 1 John. 3:8; Lk. 1:26-35; 2:1-20; 22:20; Mt. 27:37-54)

WHAT IS SPIRITUAL REBIRTH AND WHY IT IS NECESSARY FOR SALVATION? Jesus stated that man must be born again of the Holy Spirit in order to see and enter the Kingdom of God. All mankind is dead spiritually to God until they receive rebirth. This was the result of the fall of Adam when sin first entered the world. Once we are born of the Spirit we become new in every dimension of our being. The old nature which is inclined to sin is leaving as the new things of God replace it with His own nature and strength. We become sons and daughters of God and are delivered from the power of darkness into the present rule of God’s Kingdom. The process of rebirth begins with hearing the truth of the Word of God and believing it for oneself. The Holy Spirit then does the regenerating. (Jn. 3:3, 6, 12; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:13-14, 26-27; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet.1:23)

WHAT IS WATER BAPTISM? To baptize means to totally immerse. Water baptism symbolizes our death with Christ at the cross and our being buried with Him. As Jesus was raised from the dead, we, too, are raised in newness of life, leaving behind our bodies of sin. Only the blood cleanses us from sin, but we, having our lives crucified with Jesus, strip off the old man in the watery grave so we will no longer serve sin. So, as we have been crucified with Jesus, the world is now crucified to us and us to it. (Rom. 6:3-11; Col. 2:11-14; Gal. 6:14)

WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WHAT IS THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT? The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Godhead and equal with the Father and the Son. Jesus promised His coming and that He would be just like Jesus in truth and power and would lead, guide and transform us into the image of Christ. Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. He came to Jesus in the beginning of His ministry and comes to us to be with us and dwell in us. On the day of Pentecost Holy Spirit came in His power and filled the early disciples and they began speaking in tongues. You can be filled with Holy Spirit by asking. In addition someone can pray and lay their hands on you to receive and begin speaking in new tongues. He will help us overcome our struggle with our flesh so we can live as Christ. (Jn. 1:32, 14, 16, 26; Jn. 16:13-16; Lk. 24:49; Acts 1:8, 2:4, 10:44-46, 19:6; Rom. 8:1-2; Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 1:13-14)

IS HEALING AND DELIVERANCE FOR TODAY AS IT WAS IN JESUS’ TIME? In His earthly ministry, Jesus went about healing all who were sick and oppressed of the devil. He stated before His departure from this earth that the authority to continue His ministry of healing and deliverance was transferred to us. Jesus not only bore our sins, but our diseases, too. If He still bears away our sins He also can take away our diseases. (Isa. 53:5; Mt. 9:1-6, 4:23-24; Acts 10:38; Lk. 10:17; Mk. 16:15-18; Acts 3:2-8; 1 Cor. 12:9-10; James 5:13-18)

HOW DO WE PRAY? Prayer is a spiritual lifeline between heaven and earth, us and God. It is a two way conversation with requests, intercessions and personal dialogue between us and our Father who we speak to in Jesus’ name. Jesus instructed the disciples on prayer telling them of the close relationship they now had with God as Father and that the most important thing one could pray for would be for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. And for His Kingdom to come in ever increasing presence and purpose. Almost everything we can ever pray about will fit into the principle points of the Lord’s Prayer. He implores us to never stop asking, seeking and knocking for answers, revelations and openings for the Lord’s purposes. Never go to prayer with sin in your hearts.

Never pray to get attention. Always be incessant. And above all pray in faith, believing you will receive answers. Ask Holy Spirit to help your prayer life and when you don’t know how to pray, He will intercede for you. (Mt. 6:5, 9:12, Lk. 11:11-19; Mk. 11:24; James 4:2, 5:13-18; Rom. 8:26-27)

WHAT IS THE CHURCH AND WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD? The Kingdom of God is the present rule of God in the hearts of men on earth. The church is in the Kingdom and is the expression of God’s Kingdom on earth. The church is not the Kingdom which while present in the church still has a future and fuller manifestation when Jesus returns. It is made up of believers of all types of people born of the Spirit and translated into it. The word for church in the Greek means “called out ones.” We are called out of the worldly life and into a life which God intended for man in His original purposes. The church meets together to fellowship, learn, and experience the presence and power of Holy Spirit in meetings as He distributes gifts to build up the body, to worship and pray together, partake of communion and overall love on one another. It was never intended to be denominational or institutional. It is organic in nature. Jesus is the very cornerstone of its life. It is Christ’s body, habitation on earth, temple, bride of the future, family of God and army to war against spiritual forces opposed to God and man. It requires everyone’s attendance, giving of time, talent and finances. It thrives on love for God and one another. God is behind its success and the efforts of Satan to stop it will never succeed. It will continue to grow and mature, spreading the truth of God’s love and the present reality that the Kingdom of God is here now. It is not a haven from the world but a haven for the world. (Mt. 4:17; 5:3-19; Eph. 2:19-21; 3:10, 14; 4:11-16; Rom. 14:17)

THE WORD OF GOD The bible is a divine production, spoken by God into the hearts of men; by 40 different ones over 2000 years, in three languages (Aramaic, Greek and Hebrew), by educated, uneducated, kings, farmers, fishermen, teachers and public officials. These all prophesied and taught as the Holy Spirit moved on them producing an inerrant work that reveals God’s heart and will towards man.

It should be read with reverence, often, and with dependence on Holy Spirit who is its Author. It is a masterpiece. The Old Testament is full of symbols, shadows and types, all concealing Christ who would come as Messiah and Savior. The New Testament is the revealing of all that was concealed. The stories and accounts of the Old Testament are full of lessons that stand on their own, but also signs pointing to Christ. The New Testament is Christ living in the church as its life. The Old Testament gave us the Law; Christ in the New fulfils the Law for us. (Psa. 119:89,105; 2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; Jn. 1:1-2)

DEATH, RESURRECTION, JUDGEMENT, HEAVEN, HELL Scripture says that all men are appointed once to die and then the judgement. Death was not the intention of God, merely the result of disobedience by Adam. But through Jesus, death is conquered and He delivers all who had the fear of death. Scripture also promises a resurrection of mankind, some to glory and some to eternal damnation. When Jesus returns, all the dead will be raised. Those who have believed in Christ will be raised with glorious bodies fitted for immortality. Those who have rejected the Lord in this life and are enemies of Christ and His cross will find their end to be destruction and damnation. Christ will be the judge on that final day. All will appear before Him as He is the only One fit to judge mankind at His Judgement Seat. The righteous will be judged out of the Lamb’s Book of Life to see if their names are recorded there and the lost will be judged by those things written in the “Books.” The righteous will receive rewards according to their lives in Christ and not for their sins which have already been judged and the penalty paid by Jesus. The righteous will hear, “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your salvation.” The lost will know only damnation and everlasting destruction. The righteous that have chosen to live in the rule of God’s Kingdom now will spend eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven. Those that have chosen to reject the Lord and His ways will depart from His presence evermore, to outer darkness, to weeping and to the Lake of Fire. (Heb. 9:27; Rom. 5:12; Gen. 2:17; 1 Cor. 15:55-56; Heb. 2:15; Jn. 5:26-29; Daniel 12:2-3; 1 Cor. 15:42-58; Rom. 9:22; Phil. 3:19; Acts 17:31; Rom. 14:10-13; Rev. 20:11-15; Mt. 25:13-46) GGM/3/23/14